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Book Buzz: Chris Hadfield to write 'Astronaut's Guide'

Here's a look at what's buzzing in the book world today: 'Young Men and Fire': The tragic fire in Arizona that claimed the lives of 19 firefighters brings back for me the heartbreaking experience of reading

'Young Men and Fire': The tragic fire in Arizona that claimed the lives of 19 firefighters brings back for me the heartbreaking experience of reading Norman Maclean's stunning non-fiction book Young Men and Fire in 1992, when it was published. Maclean tells the story of the 1949 Mann Gulch fire in the Montana wilderness, when 15 crew members from the U.S. Forest Service's elite airborne firefighters parachuted in to fight the flames. Twelve of the "Smokejumpers" died. The book won the National Book Critics Circle Award and is available in paperback and as an e-book. Powerful stuff. – Jocelyn McClurg

Astronaut book: Astronaut Chris Hadfield will write An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, scheduled to be published on Oct. 29, with an audio reading from Hadfield to be published a the same time. He announced his plans to retire on June 10 in Quebec. During the five months that Hadfield was commander of the International Space Station, he was an avid social media user, posting photos and videos including his weightless performance of David Bowie's Space Oddity. The book "takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible."

The Sandman returns: Neil Gaiman is bringing back his Sandman series, beginning in October, DC Entertainment's Vertigo has announced. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Gaiman's first novel for adults in eight years, is No. 6 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list and was praised by USA TODAY's Brain Truitt for its "immersive" look at "childhood memories lost and nightmares found." Gaiman is currently on what he says will be his final book tour, and he's announced he'll take a social media sabbatical in 2014.

Visual art from Sylvia Plath: Sylvia Plath's daughter (and poet laureate of England) Frieda Hughes talks to TIME about an upcoming book that showcases more than 40 of her mother's drawings. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Plath's death.

Short story award: David Constantine, a writer who "doesn't have an agent and spends much of his spare time at a bolt-hole in the Scilly Islands," has won the 25,000 Euro Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award for Tea at the Midland and Other Stories. Constantine was up against competition including Deborah Levy and Joyce Carol Oates. Previous winners include Haruki Murakami and Nathan Englander.